Tigran Hamasyan ( hy, Տիգրան Համասյան; born July 17, 1987) is an

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

. He plays mostly original compositions, which are strongly influenced by the Armenian folk tradition, often using its scales and modalities. In addition to this folk influence, Hamasyan is influenced by American jazz traditions and to some extent, as on his album ''Red Hail'', by progressive rock. His solo album ''

A Fable ''A Fable'' is a 1954 novel written by the American author William Faulkner. He spent more than a decade and tremendous effort on it, and aspired for it to be "the best work of my life and maybe of my time". It won the Pulitzer Prize and the Nat ...

'' is most strongly influenced by

Armenian folk music Armenian folk music is a genre of Armenian music. It usually uses the duduk, the kemenche, and the oud. It is very similar to folk music in the Caucasus and shares many similar songs and traditions with countries around Armenia, namely Georgia a ...

. Even on his most overt jazz compositions and renditions of well-known jazz pieces, his improvisations often contain embellishments based on scales from Middle Eastern/Southwest Asian traditions.

Early life

Hamasyan was born in

Gyumri Gyumri ( hy, Գյումրի, ) is an urban municipal community and the second-largest city in Armenia, serving as the administrative center of Shirak Province in the northwestern part of the country. By the end of the 19th century, when the city w ...

. His ancestors were from the

Kars Kars (; ku, Qers; ) is a city in northeast Turkey and the capital of Kars Province. Its population is 73,836 in 2011. Kars was in the ancient region known as ''Chorzene'', (in Greek Χορζηνή) in classical historiography ( Strabo), part of ...

region. His father was a jeweler and his mother designed clothes. At the age of three he began to play melodies on his family's piano, and he went to a music school from the age of six. As a young child, he dreamed of being a

thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and often fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, 2007, . ...

guitarist.Lewis, John (October 24, 2013
"Tigran Hamasyan, the Pianist Giving Jazz an Armenian Twist".
''The Guardian''. He studied jazz from the age of nine, then tried to incorporate local folk melodies into jazz-form improvisations when in his teens. At this stage, Hamasyan was influenced by Armenian composers Arno Babajanian and

Avet Terterian Alfred Roubenovich "Avet" Terterian (also Terteryan) ( hy, Ալֆրեդ "Ավետ" Տերտերյան, July 29, 1929 – December 11, 1994) was an Armenian composer, awarded the Konrad Adenauer Prize. Terterian composed eight (completed) sympho ...

. Hamasyan, together with his parents and sister, moved to

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Y ...

when he was around 10,"Tigran Hamasyan Trio".
Monterey Jazz Festival. Retrieved October 25, 2013. and then to California when he was 16. He currently resides in Yerevan, Armenia.

Career

Hamasyan recorded his first album, ''World Passion'', at the age of 18. He spent a lot of 2013 in Armenia, which helped develop his interest in its folk music. He was the leader of the "Aratta Rebirth", with which he performed ''Red Hail''. On April 29, 2022, Nonesuch Records released Hamasyan’s first album of American standards - ''StandArt''. The project was recorded in the spring of 2021 in Los Angeles and includes 9 songs from the 1920s through the 1950s, by

Richard Rodgers Richard Charles Rodgers (June 28, 1902 – December 30, 1979) was an American Musical composition, composer who worked primarily in musical theater. With 43 Broadway musicals and over 900 songs to his credit, Rodgers was one of the most ...

Charlie Parker Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz saxophonist, band leader and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of bebop, a form ...

Jerome Kern Jerome David Kern (January 27, 1885 – November 11, 1945) was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over ...

David Raksin David Raksin (August 4, 1912 – August 9, 2004) was an American composer who was noted for his work in film and television. With more than 100 film scores and 300 television scores to his credit, he became known as the "Grandfather of Film Music ...

, and others. Bassist Matt Brewer, drummer Justin Brown, trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire, saxophonist and label-mate

Joshua Redman Joshua Redman (born February 1, 1969) is an American jazz saxophonist and composer. He is the son of jazz saxophonist Dewey Redman (1931–2006). Life and career Joshua Redman was born in Berkeley, California, to jazz saxophonist Dewey Redman ...

, and saxophonist Mark Turner collaborated with the pianist and contributed to the recording.

Awards

* 2002: 3rd Prize ''Concours International de Piano-Jazz Martial Solal'' (Paris). * 2003: 1st Prize ''Jazz à Juan Révélations'' in the ''jazz instrumental'' category. * 2003: 1st Prize ''Prix de la Critique et du Public, ''Concours de Piano du

Montreux Jazz Festival The Montreux Jazz Festival (formerly Festival de Jazz Montreux and Festival International de Jazz Montreux) is a music festival in Switzerland, held annually in early July in Montreux on the Lake Geneva shoreline. It is the second-largest annual ...

''. * 2005: 3rd Prize ''Concours de Piano-Jazz de Moscou''. * 2005: 1st Prize ''8ème Concours de Solistes de Jazz de Monaco''. * 2006: 1st Prize ''

Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz The Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz is a non-profit music education organization founded in 1986. Before 2019, it was known as the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, but was then renamed after its longtime board chairman, Herbie Hancock. The in ...

''. * 2006: 2nd Prize ''Concours International de Piano-Jazz Martial Solal''. * 2013: Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Contemporary Music * 2015: Paul Acket Award in the

North Sea Jazz Festival The North Sea Jazz Festival is an annual festival held each second weekend of July in the Netherlands at the Ahoy venue. It used to be in The Hague but since 2006 it has been held in Rotterdam. This is because the Statenhal where the festival w ...

. * 2016:

ECHO In audio signal processing and acoustics, an echo is a reflection of sound that arrives at the listener with a delay after the direct sound. The delay is directly proportional to the distance of the reflecting surface from the source and the list ...

Jazz Awards.

Sheet music

In Spring 2018 Tigran Hamasyan made his first official sheet music release via Terentyev Music Publishing Company. The edition was released digitally and contains 3 pieces for solo piano: "Etude No.1", “Markos and Markos”, and “Lilac”.

Discography

Albums

As lead artist

EPs

* ''EP No. 1'' (2011) Released exclusively on vinyl and digital download * ''The Poet - EP'' (2014) * '' For Gyumri'' (2018)

Collaborations

*2010: ''Abu Nawas Rhapsody'' with

Dhafer Youssef Dhafer Youssef ( ar, ظافر يوسف; born 19 November 1967) is a Tunisian composer, singer and oud player. Biography Dhafer Youssef was born in Téboulba (a small village of coastal Tunisia); his grandfather was a muezzin. He calls the radio ...

(Jazzland Records) *2011: ''Lines Of Oppression'' with

Ari Hoenig Ari Hoenig (born November 13, 1973) is an American jazz drummer, composer, and educator. Educational materials Hoenig has taught and is on the faculty at New York University and The New School in New York. He gives clinics and lectures at music ...

(Naive/AH-HA) *2012: ''Liberetto'' with

Lars Danielsson Lars Danielsson (born 5 September 1958) is a Swedish jazz bassist, composer, and record producer. Biography Danielsson was born in Smålandsstenar, and was educated at the music conservatory in Gothenburg. He plays double bass, electric bass ...

(The Act Company) *2012: ''Lobi'' with Stéphane Galland (Out There / Out Note) *2013: ''

Jazz-Iz-Christ ''Jazz-Iz-Christ'' is the debut studio album by Jazz-iz Christ, a group fronted by Armenian-American singer Serj Tankian. The album was released on July 23, 2013, by Serjical Strike Records. The album has essential participation of the renowned ...

'' with

Serj Tankian Serj Tankian (born August 21, 1967) is an Armenian-American singer, musician, songwriter, political activist and entrepreneur. He is best known as the lead vocalist, primary lyricist, keyboardist, and occasional rhythm guitarist of heavy metal ...

, Valeri Tolstov & Tom Duprey *2013: '' The World Begins Today'' with

Olivier Bogé Olivier is the French form of the given name Oliver (given name), Oliver. It may refer to: * Olivier (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Olivier (surname), a list of people * Château Olivier, a Bordeaux winery *Olivier, Loui ...

, Sam Minaie & Jeff Ballard (Naïve Jazz) *2014: ''Liberetto II'' with Lars Danielsson (The Act Company) *2015: ''

Ancient Mechanisms ''Ancient Mechanisms'' is the 4th album by LV (musical duo), LV, which was created in collaboration with Tigran Hamasyan and was released 9 October 2015. LV is a duo of Si Williams and Will Horrocks, who met when they were both studying at Uni ...

'' with LV (

Brownswood Recordings Brownswood Recordings is a London-based independent record label founded by Gilles Peterson in 2006. The label has released an eclectic range of music, reflecting Peterson's diverse musical taste. The roster includes Ben Westbeech, Ghostpoe ...

) *2016: ''

Atmosphères ''Atmosphères'' is a piece for orchestra, composed by György Ligeti in 1961. It is noted for eschewing conventional melody and metre in favor of dense sound textures. After ''Apparitions'', it was the second piece Ligeti wrote to exploit what ...

'' with

Arve Henriksen Arve Henriksen (born 22 March 1968) is a Norwegian trumpeter. Career Henriksen was born in Stranda and educated on the Jazz program at Trondheim Musikkonservatorium; he later studied music pedagogy, while he played in «Bodega Band» (1987� ...

Eivind Aarset Eivind Aarset (born 23 March 1961) is a Norwegian guitarist who has worked with Ray Charles, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Ute Lemper, Ketil Bjørnstad, Andy Sheppard, Mike Mainieri, Arild Andersen, Abraham Laboriel, Dhafer Youssef, Django Bates, and Nils ...

, and

Jan Bang Jan Bang (born 21 August 1968) is a Norwegian musician and record producer who has worked with Morten Harket, Sidsel Endresen, David Sylvian, Nils Petter Molvær, Arild Andersen, Bugge Wesseltoft, Arve Henriksen, and Erik Honoré. (in Norwegian) ...

(ECM)

References

External links

*
Sheet music
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hamasyan, Tigran Armenian jazz pianists 21st-century pianists 21st-century Armenian musicians ECM Records artists Nonesuch Records artists Verve Records artists 1987 births Living people People from Gyumri Tchaikovsky Secondary Music School alumni Armenian expatriates in the United States